It doesn’t matter who you are, or who you’re playing – winning conference games on the road is never easy.
Easy or not, though, Saturday’s game at Stony Brook (4-14, 0-4) felt like more than an ordinary mid-January game. For a team on a two-game skid, a road date with the bottom-feeding Seawolves presented a golden opportunity for Northeastern (10-7, 2-2) to both wash the bad taste of those losses out of their mouths and get an all-important conference win ahead of next week’s gauntlet at UNCW and Charleston.
And, while the Huskies spent the better part of the second half trying to give the game away, a dominant opening frame coupled with superb free throw shooting down the stretch locked down a necessary, albeit headache-inducing, 70-66 win.
As it so often is for this team, Saturday was a tale of two halves. Northeastern opened with the urgency you’d expect from a team that’d dropped four-of-five, jumping out to an 8-0 start off the backs of three-pointers from LA Pratt and Rashad King. Stony Brook stayed in the game, though, and a wide-open three from guard CJ Luster cut the margin to just two with 5:58 to play.
NU responded with force; a driving layup by Harold Woods sparked a half-ending, 15-4 run which gave the Huskies a 39-26 gap at the intermission. Four Luster points stood as the only thing keeping the Seawolves attached – this game looked ready to spring into a rout.
It didn’t. A suddenly stagnant Northeastern offense went cold, scoring just 11 points over the first 11 minutes and 42 seconds; the Seawolves took advantage, knotting the game at 50 before three consecutive Husky turnovers (surprise!) allowed the home team to take their first lead of the game at 55-50 with 5:48 left.
With Northeastern suddenly in all sorts of trouble, a soaring Collin Metcalf offensive rebound saved the day. The big man fed JB Frankel, who canned a three to break a scoring drought of nearly six minutes. Moments later, another Frankel jumper tied the score at 57 before six unanswered Masai Troutman free throws across three possessions handed the Huskies a semi-comfortable six-point lead with 29 seconds remaining.
Stony Brook’s Leon Nahar made a three of his own moments later, but Northeastern maintained composure. King and Troutman each sank a pair of free throws, and while a Woods mental gaffe gave the Seawolves a lifeline, it was too little, too late. A meaningless half-court heave sailed off-line, and the Huskies escaped Long Island with a 70-66 win.
It was a welcome return for Troutman; the junior guard missed Northeastern’s last two games with injury, but made his presence felt Saturday with a team-high 22 points, including an eye-popping 14-of-15 from the free throw line.
“He felt good today, the trainer gave him a green light… he came out today and had a monster performance,” said Coen on Troutman.
His availability proved key to the Huskies, who struggled mightily on the offensive end of the floor without him.
Pratt was solid too, pouring in 17; King contributed 10 (plus four blocks and three steals), while Frankel was impressive again with nine points, including several key buckets in the closing minutes.
Luster matched Troutman’s line with 22 of his own; elsewhere, Nick Woodard chipped in with 16, and Collin O’Connor had eight points and five assists, although he did add a whopping seven turnovers. Stony Brook mostly impressed in the team stats department, too – the home team shot 46%, including 40% from three, but a staggering 19 turnovers ultimately did them in.
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but as the old adage goes, they all count the same. And, in a conference where seeding is all-important, Bill Coen’s crew will take them however they can get them. Just ask the man himself:
“It’s so hard to win on the road in any league, but especially [in the CAA] – there’s so many great coaches, and great players… we were fortunate to earn one tonight.”
Northeastern will be back in action Thursday, when they travel to Wilmington to take on UNCW. WRBB will provide written and Twitter coverage, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.